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Havenshire Borough
The Borough of Havenshire (also known as simply Havenshire, the Bank Borough, Harbor Borough, or even Pickpocket Paradise) is a county of New Lordaeron. It was one of the first ten counties, or boroughs of the nation, and was originally under the rule of the House Caballero. Having been home to the richest noble House, and its banking empire and possessing the only port of New Lordaeron, the Borough of Havenshire is the wealthiest and most developed region of New Lordaeron, and the nations financial center. Geography, Demographics and Politics Havenshire is directly connected to the administrative capital district of Tyr's Hand Township. Though the mountains of the South Amani Range prohibit any safe travel, to the north the borough is also connected to Northdale (Borough), and to the west Corin's Crossing (Borough). By land Havenshire borders no enemy territory, though by sea the borough faces minor threats from the Revantusk Trolls to the south, and the New Thalassian Regency of Quel'Thalas to the north. This causes ship routes to be lenghened by several days' time to not be endangered by neither unfriendly naval forces, and buffer the nontheless thriving trade of the port. Infrastructure Being so close to Tyr's Hand Township, and with it having been shielded from war and being so wealthy, Havenshire has New Lordaeron's best infrastructure. The longly region has enough agriculture to avert most famine, and the streets and roads are in excellent condition. A main, larger road connects the Havenshire port to the county capital of New Avalon, and continues on to Tyr's Hand Township, being given the name Via Prosperitatis. Another set of cobbled roads leads from the north to the county capital, as does one to the south. Subregions - *Coastline *Midlands/Heartlands *Southlands *Northlands Climate After having been purified from the plague of undeath, and the deep running taint in the unhealthy earth by means of magic, the ocean breeze blew the ever-reminding orange clouds away that had locked the region in a sickly light away in a matter of weeks. Havenshire was one of the earliest eastern regions to have deep blue skies and white clouds again. If the sun is not shining, storms and showers from the sea pass over the countryside, an occurrance that takes place circa once a week. There are no mountains in the region, save for the bordering capes in the north, west and partially south. Due to the frequent showers and healthy climate there is much vegitation, and the Borough is reknown for its lush, green rolling hills, which have been inspiration for many New Lordaeron poets. Population The Borough of Havenshire is the most populous region. The official census of First Winter, Year 31 counts 1,800 to 2,000 New Lordaeron citizens residing in the fertile strip of land between the mountains and the sea. There is an unproportionally large mass of middle- and upper class citizens in the region; the highest concentration of any Borough (Tyr's Hand Township not counting, due to not really being a Borough) in New Lordaeron. Only around 55% of the county population are considered to belong to the lower class. They consist mostly of farmers and simple living folk on the countryside, known to mind their own business and care little for the affairs of Lords and Ladies, or even the middle class. A massive 40% of the populace, around 760 citizens, are considered the grand middle class of Havenshire. Both in percentage and actual amount, the Borough of Havenshire holds the largest amass of Middle Class citizens in all of New Lordaeron. They build most of the population of the two towns of Havenshire; county capital New Avalon and the port, Tyr's Harbor. The remaining 5% of the population are all upper class men and women, living the expected life in luxury and expansiveness. Their estates dot the countryside, built mostly defenseless and unnecessarily elaborate. Since the prosperous age of Havenshire began after the reconstruction, it has become an unofficial sport in the upper class to outbuild one another with their estates, to show 'all the world', or moreso the poor but content lower class or the rising middle class, how wealthy they are and how good their architects, engineers and personal taste is. Instead of watch towers or walls they prefer employing guards with fancy, extravagant armorsuits to monitor the vineyards and gardens. New Avalon The capital town carries the name New Avalon. The word "Avalon" comes from the ancient human name of "Alvallan" which was the sacred realm of the afterlife in tribal humanity's mysticism. It had always been a small crossroads village centered around an ancient chapel (on whose ruins a new chapel now stands) and it was only with the Scarlet Crusade's arrival that the town grew to overshadow Tyr's Bay and Havenshire village. During the Third War it was shielded from the Scourge by Tyr's Hand, the town of New Avalon had little fortifications and when Acherus razed the whole Borough in year 27 it and the rest of the region had little chance. After the founding of New Lordaeron a year later, the wealthy aristocratic Caballero family had the town rebuilt and made it the borough's capital. The wealthy town now has a population of circa 550 official residents, making it the second largest municipality in Havenshire. It is known for its peacefulness, surprisingly good smell, festivals, and expansive plots of land on the horizon. There are many cobblestoned paths curling up rolling hills, fenced by gardens and bordered by clean and securely built homes, leading to little squares with benches around old, healed and perhaps even partially dead trees, giving the town a very special atmosphere. Tyr's Bay Settled by humans almost two centuries ago, the region around Tyr's Bay became the natural location for a port. A wealthy small city eventually developed and took the bay's name as their own. With established trade routes all the way to Southshore and the region of Hillsbrad, the sea of the east was linked to the Great Sea. During the Second War, the port of Tyr's Bay served as a military installation for Alliance forces. It was spared many of the major engagements and remained a critical strategic location until the the Fall of Lordaeron. Eventually, it became one of the few removed bastions of the Scarlet Crusade throughout Years 22 to 27. After the Crusade's fall, the town was all out dead and abandoned, as much of the continent was before the founding of New Lordaeron. The Caballero Family saw the potential in the area and remembering the former meaning of the port, they rebuilt much of it. Their efforts to reestablish the trade routes and finance middle class enterpreneurs made the port grow in size and wealth. Today Tyr's Bay has an official population of 300 New Lordaeron citizens, of which circa 200 are middle- or even upper class. Furthermore, every night there can be an expected 100 to 150 sailors from the coming and going trade ships. Tyr's Bay is likely the third wealthiest municipality of the nation, only to be surpassed by Tyr's Hand Township and New Avalon. Administration Originally Havenshire was administered by the Caballero family. In the Second Council of Lords it was decided that the House Darrow gains administration of the region after the Caballero's departure to Kul Tiras. Thus, the new Lord/Count/Duke of Havenshire is Lord-Commander Rordan Darrow. Culture The past and current prosperity of the well guarded and mountain-walled region let its populace live careless when it came to wars or international affairs. Class Conflict The Lower Class and Upper Class were always two completely different social worlds. The Upper Class; the leaders, the noblemen and women never walked alongside the commoners, the farmers. It is seen as a common social law, it was never any other way. Another class that was usually forgotton evolved though- especially strong in Havenshire- is the Middle Class. The wealthier, city-living, unprivileged citizens able to live in greater comfort. Stimulated by the Caballero banks, the in the beginnign mockingly called 'Rich Farmers' grew to be closer to the Upper Class than the Lower Class. In the Borough of Havenshire, the middle class is almost as big as the Lower Class. They are the true wealth bringers of the Borough nowadays- paying their taxes in greater amounts and are able to to so more frequently than the Lower Class. The achieves wealth has made them grow arrogant though. This angered the Lower Class, who felt like the running joke of the upper classes, and the Upper Class disliked the fact that the 'lowly' Middle Class was acting like uncoronated nobles. The Upper and Lower classes distanced themselves from the Middle Class, which in the years of social isolation gained its own 'culture', and lost interest in the Upper and Lower Classes. Thus the impressions of Havenshire are fully dependant on which class the visitor belongs to. Cuisine Before the plagueing of the land, the sea was rich with fish. And surprisingly there are still some populations of certain resistant fish left. Their taste, though, is widely unpopular in New Lordaeron- save for Havenshire. The people of Havenshire have a wide variety of dishes, inspired by living in a world that is plagued, and thus preserving and making as much as possible out few resources. In result the cuisine is often seen as peculiar and awkward-tasting dishes, with all the ingredients coming from not farther than a mile from the home away and including things such as over-ripe fruits, wild mint or the oil from certain pine needles. But yet again, as in most areas of living, there is a gaping culinary difference between the social classes. Lower Class Cuisine - Farmer's Kitchen Despite the proximity to the sea, the Farmer's Kitchen rarely holds fish or any fresh meat in its dishes. Though the rarely used fish are exceptionless the Raw Spotted Yellowtail, Sagefish and Lordaeron Pilchards. Spices include jasmine, ginger, clove, sorrowmoss and sometimes even salt. Pepper is not used due to being so expensive. If meats are used, it is usually in the form of dried meat such as jerky, lahndi or cecina. Breads also play a large role in the 'Farmer's Kitchen', filling a similar role as a spoon, for instance for scooping up soups or stews. Middle Class Cuisine - The Urban Kitchen The rising middle class of Havenshire gained surprising wealth in the last years, having been blessed by the generocity and trust of the Caballero banks. Even now, as the economy stagnates, the Golden Age of the Middle Class was long enough to have said citizens gain a very individual culture- and with it kitchen. Heavy stews with pork or beef in softened potates with chives and mint are frequent. Spices used the most are chives, cumin, mustard, garlic, coriander, giner and sorrowmoss. Spices are a sign of wealth- and thus the Middle Class uses them as much as possible. A very frequent and special dish for Havenshire is the New Avalon Dumpling, fist-sized dumplings, first cooked then grilled over open fire or fried and made of wheat with a filling of crushed chicken meat, mustard and mint. The New Avalon Dumplings are served half-sunken in stew. Bread plays a minor role in the Urban Kitchen because the Middle Class is able to buy silverwear. Upper Class Cuisine - Banker's Kitchen Spice is a sign of wealth. Meat is a sign of wealth. And certain fish for the nobility is a sign of wealth. Having all of the listed from across the nation is a sign of wealth. With such knowledge it is no surprise that the Upper Class Cuisine, or the 'Banker's Kitchen', fulfills all of those points best it can. Meats include whole turkeys, grilled and cooked in a fashion where the tail feathers are untouched- for a cosmetic sake- and are served with sauces made of oranges, cranberries, or mint and jasmine. Bread is cut into thin slices and served with highly concentrated mustard. Often it is spiced wuth saffron to give it a deep red color. Everything is heavily spiced with saffron, salt, black pepper, coriander, jasmine, mint and anise. Fish include the winter squid, stonescale eel, lightning eel and firefin snapper. Racism Issue Though Tyr's Bay is a port with racial variety as it is expected, the rest of Havenshire has an extremely low percentage of non-humans, and druidism or any other religion results in living the life of an outcast with certainty. This racism and refusal of other religions comes from the five years of Scarlet rulership. Even though Lordaeron had always been a very pious land, and it was rare to find anything but humans who belived in the light, the Scarlets were zealots and forcefully rid of anything other than its ideals and followers. Though after the razing of Havenshire in year 27(?) most of the populace was decimated in the genocide, many pieces of literature remained, and a year later as reconstruction efforts began, the few survivors returned. This resulted in the populace gaining several more zealous ideals in life. Such is not to be understood, that the populace prefers wearing red and burns any outsiders because they may be sick. There is simply a greater mistrust of other races and philosophies. Category:Places